


...Of Things To Come

by starrylitme



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Awkward Tension, Bad Jokes, Bad Puns, Families of Choice, Family Fluff, First Meetings, Fluff, Gen, Non-Verbal Frisk, Nonverbal Communication, Ostracization, Platonic Relationships, Sign Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-03
Updated: 2016-09-03
Packaged: 2018-08-12 17:19:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7942723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrylitme/pseuds/starrylitme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sans goes with his bro to meet the kid Toriel's looking into adopting.</p>
<p>It's a little awkward at first, but...it eases up considerably when Sans picks a more hands-on approach of communicating.</p>
<p>(AU where monsters live among humans and probably always have. Though things could be...better between monsters and humans even still.)</p>
<p>(Written for <a href="http://katemarie999.tumblr.com/post/146934545010/september-is-undertale-shipping-pride-month/">Undertale Shipping Pride Month</a> over on tumblr.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	...Of Things To Come

**Author's Note:**

> Somehow I managed to finish a fic for Undertale Shipping Pride Month like, two days in. Granted said day is nearly over BUT IT WAS POSTED ON TIME. I SWEAR.
> 
> Anyway, today is Frans (Frisk/Sans) day so here's a cute Frisk & Sans story. It's a lot fluffier than my usual stuff so I hope it's...not too unintentionally awkward, hahaha. It's kind of based off a scene from the Full Moon O Sagashite manga in that the setup is vaguely similar but the situation and conversation is completely different. So if something seems vaguely familiar, that's probably why.
> 
> Hope you enjoy~~

It’s chilly enough to that he’s switched from his usual hoodie to something a bit thicker, with more insulation. Papyrus too, is rattling in his coat, though that could just be due to excitement as the two of them surveyed all the cheerful kids running around on the playground.

“So Tori’s looking into adopting one of these, huh?” Sans asks dryly, rubbing his mitted hands together and breathing warm magic into them. “And of course they all have to be human...”

“Look at that activity! The spirit! The FIRE, even in this cold weather!” Papyrus sighed happily as one of the kids heatedly shouted at the other to just _pass him the damn ball already_. Sans quirked his metaphorical brow, and his bro was already beside himself with glee. “Even the child Ms. Toriel has her eye on is participating! What an impressive stride! That calculating gaze—I’m SURE they love puzzles, Sans!”

“They? Which one are they?” It’s really not his fault he doesn’t know which one his bro is talking about, even as Papyrus groans like it is. His gaze is flickering from kid to kid, for what it’s worth, trying to narrow down the one in question from all these...calculating gazes. Most of them just looked competitive.

But there was one that stuck out—and, of course, that was the one Papyrus pointed to.

“Them, Sans. With the purple-striped shirt and ribbon in their hair. Their name is Frisk.”

In a sea of shouting children chasing after one soccer ball, Frisk was keeping up but keeping quiet. They still waved their arms furiously, clearly asking for the ball to be passed to them when the opportunity arose but...here’s the thing. The other kids seemed perfectly content to either ignore or overlook them every single time.

Sans’s sockets narrow as Frisk does, in fact, manage to get the ball from them, only to have it stolen immediately.

Papyrus hums—it’s an innocuous sound but there’s a bit of a strain to his smile. Sans, watching the kids laughing and speeding on ahead, leaving Frisk in the metaphorical dust, analyzes the field. One of the bigger kids was preparing to knock back any attempted goals, and that speedster bucko—the one so quick to steal—swung their leg hard, foot smashing into the ball to send it forward and—

It only takes a flick of magic, a mapped out formula for the proposed trajectory in his head for when that goalie kicks back, for the ball to go flying at a much higher arc than the kids expected, but exactly what Sans intended. And at seeing the ball travel far beyond the set-up boundaries of the playing field, the kids audibly groaned, save for Frisk who just looked...confused. Very, very confused.

“Great _going_ , genius,” the speedster huffed at the goalie.

“Frisk,” one of the other kids turned to them, coldly gesturing with a sharp point of their thumb. “Go get it.”

They all turned on Frisk expectantly. Frisk instantly, sheepishly, nodded and went running after the ball.

“Oh!!” Papyrus exclaimed with a clap of his hands. “It’s coming this way..!”

The ball hit the ground, rolling towards them with Frisk running up from behind. Papyrus stepped forward, definitely to retrieve the ball for Frisk’s sake, but Sans had already teleported ahead, stopping the ball with one foot without a problem.

Frisk, panting, slowed to a stop. They looked almost helpless, the way their gaze flickered between the ball and Sans’s grin.

“Heya. Always nice to meet a new pal.” Nudging the ball ever so slightly off to the side, he stuck his hand out. “Put ‘er there, new pal.”

Frisk, warily eyeing him, hesitated but gripped his hand—and immediately flinched at the sudden buzz and jolts running through their bones.

“Whoops, _that_ must’ve been a shock,” Sans noted, pulling back with a chuckle, tugging the joy buzzer out of his mitten and shoving it into his pocket with the rest of the universe’s secrets. “Usually it’s a whoopee cushion but, uh, unfortunately an incident resulted in me being banned from those for like, a month. Just because my bro’s best friend was embarrassed on her date. Big whoop, right?”

“ _SANS_!!” Papyrus was angrily shouting as he ran up. “Quit making a WEIRD impression on Frisk!”

“Yo, bro,” Sans greeted with a wave as Frisk peered past him.

“Don’t just ‘yo’ at me, BROTHER! Just _WHAT_ do you think you’re doing?!”

“Greeting Tori’s kid-to-be—ain’t that right, bucko?” Sans turns back to Frisk with a wink. “You know a Ms. Toriel Dreemurr, don’t cha?”

Frisk perks up, eyes wide, and with their hands, they make little horns on their head. Sans laughs, nodding.

“That’s right—looks like I _goat_ the right _kid_.”

“Urgh, _Sans_ ,” Papyrus groans, stomping his feet and smacking his shoulder. “That’s enough from you.”

“Aw, really?” Sans laughs, rocking back on his heels, hands buried into his pockets. He noted that Frisk had covered their mouth—he thinks it has something to do with the snort he heard. “There’s nothing wrong with a little ice-breaker to get the ball rolling, right?”

Frisk perked up, and then looked at the soccer ball. A couple of different emotions flickered over their face—guilt, shame, hesitation, reconsideration—and then they all heard the other kids shout.

“FRISK!!! HURRY _UP_!!!!”

Frisk nearly jumped, but Sans waved it all off.

“Let ‘em wait. Patience is a virtue—and it does good to learn early.”

“It is rude to keep your friends waiting, however!” Papyrus immediately pointed out in his best, stern, matter-of-fact tone. Then, he turned thoughtful, “But... It’s also rude to rush your friends when they’re in the middle of a conversation.”

Frisk looked between them and the ball. They looked...more than a little torn. They made grabby hands, and gestured, and Papyrus cocked his head to the side in confusion while Sans perked up at the...interesting display of charades. And then, Papyrus shot up with realization.

“Oh! I see!” He picked up the ball, and chucked it towards the other kids—they immediately scattered with several, various, surprisingly colorful exclamations. Papyrus turned proudly back at Frisk. “There! That’s what you wanted, right, Frisk?”

The look on Frisk’s face suggested that it wasn’t—but they gave a pained smile, and nodded anyway. They gestured again, a bit more helplessly.

“Papyrus,” Sans says, almost scolds, “Did you ever introduce yourself? Because, uh, it’s rude to put that off. I’ve gotta say—I’m surprised at you if _that’s_ the case.”

“Goodness, Sans, what do you TAKE me for?! I’d never FORGET something like that!” Papyrus scoffs at the very idea with nothing but offense. “Undyne and I met Frisk much, much earlier! You remember that, don’t you, Frisk?!”

_It...still would’ve helped to say something like that earlier, Paps..._

Frisk nodded jerkily, at least, though there was still that...hesitation. Like maybe they didn’t remember as much as they thought they should’ve—or at least as much as they thought Papyrus expected them to. They were smiling, gesturing again, but there was a twitchiness to them that screamed anxiety.

Welp, this was not going as smoothly as he intended.

“I do apologize for my brother, Frisk,” Papyrus was saying. “He can...be quite...something when he does his thing. He did not startle you earlier, did he?”

Frisk was quick to deny that. Papyrus overlooked that lie in favor of grinning widely.

“You’re really QUITE athletic, Frisk! If you want, later, Undyne and I...”

“Hey, kid.”

“...Sans,” Papyrus says, and sighs heavily. “It’s rude to interrupt.”

“Yeah, but, I mean I’m thinking we should cut to the chase real soon—kid’s got a game to get back to, after all,” Sans shrugs, casting a side-eyed gaze to the resumed game in question and noting Frisk also looking back over there, longingly in spite of everything. “So, uh, I just got a couple of things to make clear before I can be on my way. Is that, uh, alright?”

“I _suppose_!” Papyrus groans, folding his arms tightly with a roll of his eyes...or eye sockets, as it were. “We did come over here because _you_ wanted to meet them after all.”

Frisk looked at him with wide, wide eyes. He grins, shrugging off the statement.

“Well, I mean... So, kid, don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Tori and I are pals. Pun pals, really. We go way back and we have each other’s backs. So,” He took a step forward, grin widening as he did, “When I heard about her looking into adopting a kid, I have to admit I was curious about what kind of kid she was looking to take in. And I could’ve just stayed home until Tori inevitably brought you over on one of her visits, but, thing is... As great as that sounds...”

He pulled his hands from his pockets, and peels off his gloves to tuck them away.

“That’d be pretty lame, especially when Tori’s such a good friend to me. Besides, when it comes to meeting new people...”

His hands move in fluid, familiar motions that have Frisk’s eyes growing even wider.

“I prefer a more hands-on approach anyway.”

_You know sign?_

Frisk nodded furiously with their head and their fist. They immediately signed back. **_You_** _know sign?!_

Sans chuckles, mirroring their ‘yes’ with a lot more calm. Then he went on. _Skills are kinda **R-U-S-T-Y** , though—but I’d be happy to sign with you whenever you like. Need more practice anyway._

_Not a lot of people know sign._ Frisk seems almost sheepish. _None of the other kids here know sign. Only some adults do. I’m surprised you do._

A pause, and then...

**_S-A-N-S_ ** _, was it?_

Sans nods, humming. Frisk brightens up, bumping their knuckles together with a considerable amount of cheer.

_Nice to meet you! **S-A-N-S**!_

Sans’s grin widens. _Same here, **F-R-I-S-K**._

Frisk was beaming up at him. And, well, actually—that was kind of embarrassing. But when Sans averted his gaze, he instead took in Papyrus, hands pressed together before his jaw with eye sockets sparkling.

Aw _jeez_.

“I, uh,” he says, signing and shrugging. “I should probably get going.”

_Will I see you again soon?_ Frisk asks, looking so hopeful it hurts. _You and **T-O-R-I-E-L** are friends, yes?_

“Yeah. Of course. Why wouldn’t we?”

“We’ll be sure to visit lots and lots, Frisk!” Papyrus chirps, and his hands move quickly in both signs and gestures. Frisk, at least, looked more amused than awkward this time, with now they nodded in return. “Once Ms. Toriel adopts you, there’s so MUCH for us all to do together!!”

Frisk perked up, smile twitching, and then, there was that unease again. They were even fidgeting with their fingers in a clear display of nerves.

“Y’know, kid,” Sans speaks up, snapping his fingers to get their attention and then ruffling their hair. “From what I can tell, Tori’s taken quite a shine to you already. She’s really looking forward to having you around.”

_So take care of yourself in the meantime._ He signs. And then, he adds. _I’ll see you later._

Frisk, flushed with wide, watery eyes, nods quickly, repeating the sign for ‘see you’ and once Sans pulled his hand back, they turned back to Papyrus and waved.

Papyrus cheerfully waved back, and just like that, the kid scampered off. Or, at least, they scampered a good distance away before turning back around—blowing a kiss with both of their hands? Wow, how embarrassing. Frisk certainly seemed more than a little embarrassed since they immediately spun back around and ran considerably faster than before.

...Oh wait, that had been a _thank you_.

Wow. _Huh._

Papyrus giggled, patting his shoulder, and urging him so that the two of them could be on their way as well.

“I have to say, Sans, I’m pleasantly surprised and proud of how that turned out!”

“Ah, huh? Really?”

“Of course!” Papyrus exclaimed matter-of-factly. “You really put a smile to Frisk’s face! See how much good even a lazybones like you can do when you just _try_?!”

“Aw, jeez, Paps,” Sans mutters, rubbing at the back of his skull. “I was just being a decent guy to the kid. That’s hardly anything special.”

“Well,” Papyrus says, and then trails off. “To you, perhaps, but to Frisk, I’m sure that...”

Sans swallows, and widens his smile a bit more.

“...Ah, so. Does this mean we can stop by Grillby’s today?”

“UGH.” Papyrus groans loudly and dramatically. “Oh, if we must...”

“We don’t have to, y’know,” Sans says, but Papyrus quickly cuts him off, much louder and firmer than before.

“IF WE _MUST_ , SANS, WE **_SHALL_**.”

Sans shrugs, laughing as he does. And then he quiets a bit, thinking.

_Frisk, huh? Man, Tori, you really know how to pick ‘em._ Hunching in himself a bit, hopefully subtly enough that his bro doesn’t pick up on it, his thoughts go a little further. _But I guess I approve of them for now. Let’s just see what happens._  


End file.
